Believe it or not, your make-up actually has agricultural roots

Through the usage of cosmetics, many women have gained a whole new level of confidence.

For years women have built their confidence on how they look and how they feel about themselves. In addition, through the usage of cosmetics, many have gained a whole new level of self-assurance.

While some women apply make-up every day, others use it from time to time. Since there are a variety of products, it would be impossible to highlight all the ingredients, so we’ll just turn our focus to some of the natural elements within a few cosmetic products.

The basic necessities of make-up, as we know it, are lipstick, eye shadow, foundation and mascara. When thinking of these beauty enhancing inventions it can be somewhat hard to believe that it all links back to agriculture. However, no matter how processed the product may be somewhere deep inside it was either once running on a farm, swimming in the sea or growing in a field.

Well, let’s get back to the ingredients before you get too disgusted to read further.

Honey bees are not just hard at work to provide you with honey, they also make a lot of effort to create beeswax. This is one of the components which helps you to add some volume to your eyelashes when you apply mascara. (Read more: The weird and wonderful of the beekeeper’s job.)

Aloe Vera juice can be found in foundation as it helps to keep your skin moisturized when you apply it to hide some scars on your face.

Squalene, which also acts a moisturizer, can be found in your popping lipstick and eyeshadow. It helps to prevent dryness of sensitive skin such as your lips and eyelids. This may freak you out a bit, but squalene can also be extracted from a shark’s liver. In fact, many cosmetic companies have used it before, but have since stopped as it was considered a rather cruel method. But not to worry, there are other natural, plant-based sources of squalene, such as olive oil and wheat germ.

Yes, as women it is important for us to look and feel our best, but it is our responsibility to know what we apply to our faces.

CHANTÉLLE HARTEBEEST is a young journalist who has a fiery passion for storytelling. She is eager to be the voice of the voiceless and has worked in both radio and print media before joining Food For Mzansi.